"How could there be a snake?"
The man, bitten by the snake, mumbled suspiciously to himself, then shot the snake still wriggling on the ground into two pieces with a single shot, and then sat down to treat his wound.
"Brother, the job's done. When do we go back?"
Lingqian's helping was over, so she turned back and asked. But she saw that Lingxu's expression seemed off, and the renowned leader of the Three Mountains focused his gaze on the dark temple in front, then spoke after a while, "I heard that there are some dangerous areas in the Dahuashan, but it shouldn't be here. Why does this temple exude an eerie feeling?"
Both me and the fat guy knew the reason, so we had no intention of coming out of the bushes. This was the safest place, and if anything happened, we could turn and run first!
"Hiss..."
Strange sounds echoed around the area, as if many things were surrounding us, and it felt like they were getting closer and closer.
"It seems like something is coming. Everyone, be careful."
The people around shouted loudly, but the situation kept getting worse. The chilly wind blew, and in the poor lighting conditions, no one could see what was around them clearly.
"It's snakes, and a lot of them."
In such dim conditions, my companion, Luoqiong, reacted quickly, grabbing a handful of grayish-yellow powder from the pocket of her coat and sprinkled it forcefully on my and the fat man's heads. A pungent smell immediately entered our noses, smelling like the sourness of sulfur.
"What is this?"
The fat man asked, covering his nose.
"It's realgar. There are snakes in the mountains, so at night we sprinkle realgar around the camp to keep snakes and some venomous creatures away. There are quite a few snakes ahead, so I sprinkled some realgar to prevent them from coming towards us. They will go away when they smell it..."
As Luoqiong finished speaking, Lingxuan and the others had already opened their flashlights, and when they shone them around, the scene in front of their eyes made everyone gasp in shock.
Just now there was no light, so nothing could be seen, but now everything was finally clear. A large number of dark, venomous snakes were lurking around Lingxuan and a few others, resembling the large black snake that attacked me, except they were shorter and there were many of them, with several snakes coiled together. The sight of their contorted bodies and the sound of their bodies rubbing against each other sent shivers down everyone's spine.
Not only were they on the ground, but also on several large trees around, and even on the walls of the temple, venomous snakes were crawling out. A bite from any of these venomous creatures could cost you your life.
The previously bitten team member was now half-sitting on the ground, looking very pale, with purple lips and trembling, saying, "It seems to be a neurotoxic venom, these snakes are formidable..."
Lingxuan frowned, strode forward, and kicked the man to the ground, then took the machete thrown by another person and chopped at the injured man's leg.
A tragic scream echoed throughout the valley, the piercing cries making my eardrums ache.
"She's ruthless."
The fat man said with a twitch of his eye.
"She's trying to save him. Although he just performed first aid, it's obvious that he's been poisoned. If we don't cut off his leg to stop the spread of the toxin throughout his body, he's as good as dead, and it will be extremely painful. There's still a chance to save him now."
Luoqiong shook her head.
I stared at Lingxuan, and it was now very clear that the old temple had become the nest of this group of venomous snakes. Whether the monster was inside was unknown, but just this group of snakes alone was enough to give them a tough time.
"You guys go."
I pulled the fat man, wanting them to leave first, but the fat man was not happy about it, shouting, "What the hell are you doing? We stick together in times of trouble, we are brothers."
"It's pointless for you to stay. If the creature comes out later, with your speed, how would you run? You go first, I'll check the situation, and if it's not favorable, I'll leave too."
In fact, I wanted to stay myself. After all, I had survived a few life-threatening situations, so I felt like I had a strong will to live. I was hoping that today, Lingxuan and the monster would fight to the death, and I could find an opportunity to get the antidote.
"We can't leave either."
Luoqiong turned around and said with a wry smile. I looked back again and immediately changed my expression. It seemed that there were several large snakes lurking in the darkness behind us, but because of the realgar, they didn't come near. Still, their sounds could be heard in the darkness.
"The heavens won't let us leave. We'd better crawl. I guess these large snakes are cutting off our retreat. They may not necessarily be coming to attack us, but if we leave, they would likely attack us."
The fat man couldn't leave either. With the large snakes surrounding us from behind and venomous snakes attacking from the front, we were in the most dangerous place.
Gunshots rang out, and several men were skilled in marksmanship. However, there were too many poisonous snakes, and countless more were continuously crawling out.
"Boss, we're running out of bullets," someone shouted. Once the bullets were gone, the snakes would immediately attack. If a person was attacked by several snakes and bitten, it would be game over.
Ling Jiong's face looked grim, and the situation had changed in a way that caught him off guard. But there was still no intention of taking action. He turned to Ling Qian and said, "Open the Yin Gate and release the unjust souls."
Ling Qian was taken aback, then shot and shattered the head of the attacking snake. She replied, "Brother, you want me to open the Yin Gate? That's against the rules!"
"I told you to open it, so open it. If there's a problem, I'll take the blame. The people below will come up, and I will handle it."
The fat man in the grass was puzzled and asked, "What does it mean to open the Yin Gate?"
I thought for a moment and replied, "Ling Qian is a Yin-walker from Yuyang, which is kind of like a person with a soul attachment. Simply speaking, after a person dies, their soul goes into the ground, whether it's reincarnation or staying in the underworld, it's not a matter of the living world. But if they return to the living world after death and refuse to leave, they become restless spirits. Restless spirits are difficult to deal with, and if they attach to a regular person, they can become a source of trouble. Yin-walkers are in the business of dealing with this, bringing the souls of attached people back underground. But not everyone who can take them in can bring them out, only those who are truly capable."
Not only the fat man, but even Luo Yong next to him seemed curious as I explained.
"We have customs related to Ghost Festival in different places, and it's not just a saying, it's the day when the gates of the underworld open. The gates open and souls return to the living world, then return to the underworld the next day. This is what it means to open the Yin Gate, but it's something that is agreed upon underground. However, skilled Yin-walkers are able to open the Yin Gate on their own within a small area, causing the souls of that land to return to the living world. But this is considered a violation of the rules, and those who do it will face lawsuits."
Ling Qian, looking young but capable of opening the Yin Gate, truly surprised me. Nevertheless, what surprised me even more was Ling Jiong's assurance that he could handle the people below. This wasn't just boasting; this leader of the Three Mountains had some remarkable abilities.
Reluctantly, Ling Qian nodded and took out two candles from her bag. One was red and the other white. After lighting them, she sat down cross-legged and placed a square black cloth in front of the candles. Then, she closed her eyes and began reciting something.
"What is she chanting?" Luo Yong asked, puzzled.
"It should be a death prayer, but it could also be a specific incantation. Keep an eye on the candles in front of her. This is the first time I've seen someone open the Yin Gate. According to Lao, opening the Yin Gate is a loss of Yin virtue and should not be done too often. If she can't handle the people below, she'll suffer bad luck after she dies, and her soul will face trouble underground."
After chanting for a while, the flames of the two candles suddenly changed. The flames of the white and red candles kept drifting towards each other.
"How is this possible?" the fat man exclaimed in surprise.
"The red candle represents the Yang Gate, and the white candle represents the Yin Gate. If the Yin goes to the Yang, it means the Yin Gate is about to open."
At that moment, Ling Qian suddenly opened her eyes, and her fingers wrapped around a white thread above the two candles. Surprisingly, the thread did not burn, but the flame fell on it, burning from the white candle towards the red one.
"It's truly amazing!" Luo Yong exclaimed in astonishment.
"Without distinction between Yin and Yang, unjust souls pass on, open the Yin Gate, and let the spirits come!" Ling Qian muttered, and a strange mist seemed to rise from the black cloth in front of her, followed by a faint green light floating up from it.